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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The Charest Rumormill, and why Ultra Magnus WAS an effective leader,..

Newsreels are buzzing with the probable call for a provincial election next week. It would seem that this past weekend which saw both opposition parties hold conventions, the falling Canadian dollar, and the statement from our premier that the National Assembly is not functioning are all part of a greater cosmic plan to induce us Quebecers to go to the polls. I think Charest's intentions are good, his approval rating is high and we will need a majority government to handle whatever financial crisis already brewing in embryonic form.

The Action Democratique defections, will ultimately have to stand up to their voters' reactions and see how well this plays out. Mr. Dumont's values seem to reflect the social conservatism of Stephen Harper at the federal level, but this can be a good thing in Quebec's regions, where people are very Nationalistic yet not outright separatist.

The Parti Quebecois (greying heads and all...) with Pauline Marois will attempt to seduce us with their xenophobic, close minded separatism that form the backbone of their 'raison-d'etre.' (Imagine, a looming economic crisis, and these people want to talk separation!!! We should be asking ourselves, what alternate dimension do these people come from?)

A final note on this point, although I share many social values with Mr. Dumont, I believe the Liberals are much better positioned to govern, and take action should anything come up. Time and again, Mr. Charest has shown himself not the pawn of Ottawa as the separatists charge, but a proud Quebecois, open to decentralized federalism. On a side note, Mr. Dumont's 'autonomist' vision makes me think of Vatican City, I mean c'mon, it is cute!

Now on to something totally different...(my girlfriend at this point, will point out my ADD...)

Growing up, and still now, the Transformers (G1 series)were etched into my very 'being' from an early age. Optimus Prime(in many respects a Christ-like character like Aslan the lion)battled for truth, justice and peace in the universe. Fast-forward to 1986. The first Transformers movie (animated) is released and my father brings me to see my hero. Welllllll,..talk about dealing with a death in the family, Prime's death marked my childhood, even when they brought him back (cause parents were complaining...)it still didn't change the fact that he died,...in battle,..heroically,..through Megatron's scheming,..you get my point? DEAD. Prime, on his death bed passes the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus, who fumbles it like a football resulting in a younger autobot touching it first thereby imprinting him.(Rodimus Prime..)

A little bit of history on Ultra Magnus. Magnus started off as Dion, a friend of Orion Pax (Optimus Prime)and was rebuilt shortly after Prime. Both autobots were the prototypes for new defenders, or soldiers. Both were meant to lead. Magnus took over the autobot forces on Cybertron until he found Prime on Earth, shortly thereafter, he rejoined Prime and constructed what is known as Autobot city. Ultra Magnus in short was an autobot general, kinda like Colin Powell. Soooooo, now Magnus has the big chair, and is trying to rebuild after an all night attack resulting in several prominant autobot casualties,(Iron Hide, Ratchet, Prowl, Braun, Wheeljack and Windcharger to name a few.) Meanwhile, Megatron now mortally wounded and discarded into deep space by Starscream receives an upgrade from Unicron. People, if ya don't know,..rent the freakin' movie! Magnus saves the remaining autobots from an attack on his shuttle by splitting up the shuttle and then sacrifices himself on the planet of Junk. (Magnus is later rebuilt by the Junkions...)

The verdict is Ultra Magnus is resolute, and very willing to sacrifice himself to save his troops. In season three, Magnus acts as 'consigliere' to Rodimus, and commands most of the military operations. If I ever have twin boys, I will name them Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus! How 'bout them apples?! Yeah,..! Had enough? Time for me to transform and roll out...